The Fall of the F9000
The Fall of the F9000 was a controversy that involved the F9000 International Federation of Anti-Gravity Racing, masterminded by the Overtel Corporation, and other related parties, both legitimate and illegitimate. The Anti-Gravity Purity Coalition exposed numerous sensitive documents exposing acts of corruption within the F9000 Commission. The subsequent investigations that followed literally destroyed all parties involved in the scandal, including Overtel itself. The subsequent fallout by the general public resulted in a global unrest and an economic depression that lasted until the end of the decade. AG racing would disappear as a reputable sport until the re-emergence of the sport during the 2180s and the birth of the FX300 League in 2197. Background Since the birth of AG racing, Overtel Corporation had been obsessed with gaining control of the sport and the "maximisation of audiences at any cost necessary". As such, Overtel bought the controlling stake in Qirex Industries sometime during the 2050s, and reared the team to become the most successful team in the early times of AG history. However, this was viewed with suspicion by the Race Commission, as well as by Pierre Belmondo, as they saw Overtel's influence as a threat to his ideals. Belmondo responded to this by forming the Belmondo Foundation in the early 2100s to protect his ideals for after he moved on. In 2132, Overtel finally managed to gain control of the F7200 AG Race Commission from the Belmondo Foundation following Pierre Belmondo's death in 2127. Since then, Overtel would evolve the sport to become "better for the spectators watching", and make it more profitable for interested parties. In 2152, Overtel announced that the league would be upgraded to F9000 specification, and held a public contest for the selection of the race track for the league. The first F9000 League season was contested in 2156 to worldwide acclaim. However, as the competition went on, the sport increasingly became a business ground for interested parties. Once-proud teams, such as FEISAR and Piranha, had become virtual pawns in one giant game of business. Numerous resistance organisations were formed to protest the direction that AG Racing was going, most notably the Anti-Gravity Purity Coalition. Formed in 2162, the Coalition co-ordinated numerous publicity stunts in an attempt to undermine all of those involved with the F9000. League participants and sponsors were common targets. This became more common toward the late 2160s. October 2170: Exposure of Corruption In October 2170, the Coalition had hacked into the database of the F9000 Commission, where they lifted terabytes of confidential information before they were discovered. Among those files were the details of corruption, deception, illegal practices, and even murder that spanned out to even before Overtel controlled the Commission. The Coalition made these documents public during the start of the penultimate race of the F9000 season. Crowds stopped in their tracks and gazed in awe at the revelations unfolding upon the giant screens in shopping malls, city centres and airports around the world. Natasha Belmondo, the great-great-granddaughter of Pierre Belmondo, recounted this event: "I knew that day would come at some point. The instant I spotted the news on the screens I opened the channel to my team and asked 'Is this what I think it is?' When they replied in the affirmative I felt a wave of emotion rush over me. I eased off the power, opened the air brakes, coasted to a stop and began to cry. They were not tears of joy or sadness, but tears of relief. Relief that it was finally over. For those in the grandstands and around the world who had watched the news unfold in disbelief, the sight of each of the ships in that race sitting idle on the grid confirmed the dreadful truth. This was not some elaborate misinformation stunt concocted by a radical fan group. This was the searing revelation that they, the public, had been the victims of a much larger scam than they could ever have imagined." In the following days, the F9000 League was suspended pending further investigation. Within hours of story breaking, many of Overtel's board members took the easy way out with many of them committing suicide rather than having to face the charges laid against them. Those who opted not to commit suicide were subsequently arrested by U.S. Marshals from their corporate headquarters in New York City. Fallout At the same time, a media firestorm was developing in the crossfire between companies exposed by the scandal. As accusations were followed by counter-accusations, the teams and their controlling megacorp sponsors desperately scrambled for the high ground. But for most, it was a little too late – angry mobs would besiege corporate HQs around the world into the nights and days that followed, requiring local military forces to move in and enforce martial law in several major cities. Tigron The most extraordinary fallout was from Tigron Enterprises. The company had been controlled by the criminal syndicate-backed government that had controlled Russia since the late 2140s. In the investigations that followed, Tigron was exposed as one of the main cohorts involved in the scandals with Overtel. After the company acquired Qirex in 2149, it discovered all manner of illegal activities that Overtel was engaged in while in control of Qirex. During the F9000 League, Tigron used these documents to blackmail Overtel to allow them to actively flaunt the rules, which went so far as fixing races in the later years. After this was discovered, Tigron was shut down and abandoned. Subsequently, the disgruntled civilians revolted and overthrew the syndicate-based government within the year. G-Tech G-Tech Systems was another company involved in Overtel's corporate crimes. Specifically, the company appeared to be financed, unlawfully, by Overtel, through its various illegal operations. This was a result of their constant poor performance in each season they competed in the F9000 League, as well as their arrogance to continue despite constant threats by the parent company to pull out the team. The investigation discovered colossal financial irregularities in G-Tech's accounts. As a consequence, G-Tech would become defunct after becoming financially crippled and deserted by its customers, and all of its resources (including the AG racing ships) were auctioned off not long after. Others Other parties (presumedly) involved in the scandal subsequently dissolved or merged (such as EG-R and Xios, although whether they were involved in the corruption or not remains unknown), or even quit the scene to distance themselves from AG racing. Even so, many of those that merged or quit might still suffer from financial recession as the result of the fallout. Aftermath The major fallout during the fall of the F9000, coupled with the subsequent riots all over the world, had a devastating impact on world markets and the global economy. This shock led to a global recession that took years to stabilize, and many more to recover from. Category:Universe